Frostbitten
by akaiciel
Summary: After their first unnerving visit to the abbey, Rei notices that Kai is still a little tense and tries to find out what's wrong. One-shot.


**Frostbitten**

It was later in the day than Rei had realised; either that or the densely knit clouds made it darker than it ought to be at this hour. The Bladebreakers, Japan's representatives in the beyblading world championship final, trudged down a grey Russian street, their footsteps much heavier on leaving the abbey than they had been on arrival. Nobody had discussed the route they were taking. In fact, nobody had said anything for a while now, but Rei agreed silently with the thoughts he knew were echoing in his teammates' minds: to keep moving away from the abbey was for the moment more important than deciding on any course.

The further they got from the abbey, however, the less urgent this seemed to be, and Rei was unsurprised when Takao stopped. The rest of the boys, walking slowly in any case, dwindled to a halt and waited to see what their outspoken teammate would do.  
  
The air was thick with cold, and laced with the texture of cracked ice. In spite of this, Takao breathed it in deeply, exhaling with a visible sigh. "I'm starving," he declared. Rei felt his stomach unknot a little. "Let's ditch the hotel and find a real Russian restaurant somewhere."  
  
Max broke into a relieved grin. "Hey, great idea!"  
  
"No, not a great idea!" Kyouju interrupted, clearly horrified. "We were supposed to go straight to the hotel and meet with Mr. Dickenson, remember?"  
  
"Oh, we'll call him all right," Takao said with a mischievous grin.  
  
"Yeah, to charge it to his expense account!" Max laughed.  
  
"That's it," Kyouju said crisply, tucking his laptop firmly under one arm, "We're going straight to the hotel!"  
  
"Aww, not even a pirogi?"  
  
"No! If we hurry we can be there before curfew..."  
  
It was such a typical scenario: Max and Takao teasing Kyouju as they always did, the two of them laughing as he took a moment to realise that they were joking. On this particular night, the laughter was a little too loud, the realisation a little forced.

Rei couldn't blame them for seeking out a well-worn routine. The abbey had chilled him too, with its darkened corridors and high stone walls housing beybladers who trained to absolute conformity. It was no wonder that the boy Alexander had seemed to be recycling empty quotes whenever he spoke; how could anyone have his own opinions and enthusiasm if he was raised like that? The only truly heartfelt words Rei had heard from were in Alexander's screams for mercy as he was dragged away. It was the first time he had sounded like a child, and not a machine.  
  
"Come on, Chief, I'll buy you whatever you want!"  
  
"And whatever you want too, I'm sure!"  
  
"Which reminds me - you won't mind reading out the menu, right? Max and I don't speak Russian, so..."  
  
"Then it's a good thing that won't matter at the hotel, isn't it?"  
  
Max and Takao had each slung an arm around Kyouju, trying in vain to persuade him to their cause as he walked stiffly between them, clasping his laptop in both hands as he stuck doggedly to Mr. Dickenson's itinerary. Rei had to smile, and he felt himself begin to relax. Glancing just over his shoulder, he noted that the younger boys' bantering wasn't having a similar effect on their team captain.  
  
He slowed his pace a little until he was walking next to Kai, who had remained quiet since they left the abbey. Not that this was unusual, but it was very different from the aloof silence Rei was used to. Kai was also paler than usual, with none of the flush in his cheeks from the knifelike breeze that the rest of the team could claim. His lips were pursed and his eyes were fixed - but Rei was much more concerned about the fact that Kai's hands, clenched into fists, were shaking.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked, speaking up enough that his words wouldn't be lost in the wind, but with no chance of being overhead by the boys in front.  
  
Kai looked away. "Aren't you going to bother Kyouju with the others?" he returned, but his voice was rough and jagged. Rei stepped a little closer.  
  
"I saw your face when we met Balkov, Kai." If possible, Kai's fists clenched even tighter. "Do you know him?"  
  
As Balkov had rounded the corner of the abbey earlier, Kai had gasped. Before Rei could ask what the matter was, he had smoothed his expression into the guarded disinterest that the Bladebreakers knew so well. Later on, as Balkov showed his true colours in rejecting Alexander and asking the Bladebreakers to leave, Kai had seemed subdued, a trait Rei hadn't even thought he possessed.  
  
In the corner of his eye, Rei could see Kai's hands relax. He sighed inwardly. This was no sign that Kai was calmer, simply that he knew how Rei had noticed that something wasn't right, and was making an effort to remove that signal before anyone else could question him.  
  
"I've never met that man before in my life."  
  
"But you've been to Russia before, haven't you?"  
  
"What is this, Rei?" Kai demanded, flashing angry eyes towards him. "An interrogation?"  
  
Rei shrugged. "You can read Russian. I assumed that meant you'd been here before."  
  
"Well, if I have, I certainly don't remember it."  
  
It was sarcastic, as expected, but there was a single wavering note that caused Rei to look up sharply. But it was too late; Kai was already marching ahead to snatch the map from Kyouju and lead them to their hotel as he had intended to from the start.  
  
That night, Rei stayed awake, and listened to Kai attempting to sleep. Kai's breathing usually remained comfortingly even all night, but it continued to be erratic until he finally dozed off in the early hours of the morning. It was only then that Rei felt free to sit up, and look over at the boy beside him. As usual, Kai lay on his back, arms folded behind his head. He could almost have fallen asleep gazing at clouds, but for the furrow on his brow.  
  
Settling back to sleep, Rei watched Kai, concerned for his friend but with no real reason that he could identify. That is, until he awoke early the next morning to see that Kai's frown had melted into an expression of startled fear. He sat up and watched intently as the usually impassive boy struggled against sleep. In all the time they had known each other, Rei had never once known Kai to show evidence of dreaming.  
  
Eventually, his eyes snapped open and he sat up, gasping for air.  
  
"Are you all right, Kai?"  
  
Eyes still wide, Kai glanced across at him.  
  
"It sounded like you were having a nightmare or something," Rei said, feeling his usual frustration rise as Kai's wariness returned and any chance of an explanation faded into nonexistence.  
  
They prepared for the day under a weighted silence, Rei searching for some way to find answers to his questions that didn't involve asking Kai directly. Why was it so hard to simply admit that something was wrong and talk about it? What could possibly have happened to Kai to make him this tight with information in the first place?  
  
Before he had even come close to something approaching an answer to these questions, Kai had left, shutting the door firmly behind him. Rei sank back down to his bed. He would talk to Kai later.

-------

Written for a fic rush in the KaixReiML, this was my attempt at making descriptive language work. I've reworked it a couple of times, but description isn't a strong point of mine and this is unbetaed, so all feedback of any kind, including constructive criticism, is very welcome!


End file.
